A Bowl of Stupid

Taking a brief moment from responding to the emails I received while I was out "gone surfin" last month, I wanted to address a problem that's arisen in conjunction with my maintaining this blog — essentially this:

One of the main reasons I continued this blog once I started traveling was to provide some 'on the ground' guidance to others who may also be interested in the future in taking the same, or similar, trips as I have. I know I could have benefited from some of the information I've posted up on this site, and I wanted to 'pay it forward' … such as it is.

Truly, I've been able to live out the initial dream I had when I left the States, the dream of surfing waves that look EXACTLY like (or even better) than the break shown in the header of this blog — it is a gift for which I am eternally grateful.

However, I've also bitched — also on the blog (and elsewhere) — about the sheer number of 'surf-tourists' I've had to contend with in previously little known surf spots throughout Southeast Asia. Indeed, as has been pointed out, I myself am one of them — albeit in attendance at such spots for longer periods of time than some others (in all honesty, one of the biggest problems we 'surf-tourists' face are uber-rich surfers — mostly from America — who can afford to take 2-3 weeks out and pay thousands and thousands of U.S. dollars to charter boats, or stay in luxiurious resorts, or even buy property to use for 3 weeks a year. All this while we, the reletively 'under-funded' stay for months on end in modest surroundings, simply trying to find some good uncrowded surf-breaks.

It's a bit of a connundrum — how to repay the locals and others who helped me to obtain the gift of riding such great waves, while also not making all these great breaks super-crowded and not being a complete dickhead by 'hiding' such breaks for fear they too will be ruined next surf season for the uber-rich (or even the not so uber-rich).

It's for that reason that I've decided to do what I never thought I'd do (and never wanted to do) — I'm going to start censoring the information I write on this blog. Oh, don't worry, I'll write privately whatever notes I feel I need to remind myself about various breaks and spots I visit. But I'll no longer be making them public.

Sorry guys, but I'm done giving out this type of information when all it does is make the breaks more crowded for me (and the small number of other guys who choose to 'explore'). Yeah, I'll probably write a bit about the Philippines, since I already wrote about them last year. But once I head out into the Pacific — you're on you're own.

I know it sounds like a really dickhead move (and it probably is), but from now on, go find your own break … keep it off my wave.

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As noted a couple posts ago (while I was in Bali en route from Nusa Tenggara back home to Bangkok), I found a plethora of emails waiting for me upon my arrival to the wonderful world of indoor plumbing — some were asking how I'm doing, others were asking for travel advise, and still another was just hatin' on my blog in general.

I'll try my best to fully address each of these emails in due time. But I'll start with the last of them — which I just got from a guy (or girl … or potentially both) named 'Pat,' who wrote:

I read your blog from December 13, 2006 in which you discuss morality and responsibility. I find it ironic that your decided to discuss such issues while plagiarizing the work of others.

Your comment that related to occupying moral safe houses was taken practically word for word from the West Wing show - "No one in government takes responsibility for anything any more. We foster, we obfuscate, we rationalize. 'Everybody does it.' That's what we say. So we come to occupy a moral safe house where everyone's to blame so no one's guilty.". Granted you did take out "in government" so maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

If you decide to write a blog on the subject of hypocrisy, please let me know.

Well Pat, here it is …

Ignoring the fact that you're getting worked up about what some ex-pat surf-bum is spewing out on his BLOG, … on the INTERNET — you're absolutely right … I 'borrowed extensively' (okay, 'stole') from a West Wing transcript.

Big fucking deal.

I've no secrets here — I've admitted that I steal from the West Wing — and many other sources — on a regular basis. Fuck, if you haven't noticed, most of my post titles come from song titles. But c'mon, kid, unless you were on the writing staff, getting worked up about my failure to specifically cite back to a now-defunct television series is just silly.

And d'ya wanna see something else? I'll do it again … right now:

Quoting verbatim from the same T.V. show, Aaron Sorkin wrote that: "Good writers borrow, and great writers steal." (it bears noting this particular quote is one which Sorkin himself stole — from T.S. Elliot.)

Admittedly, you're also correct about the context of the original quote, and that by now equating myself with others who do the same thing, this quote is itself … it's, well … yeah, it's pretty hypocritical. But I think you're missing Elliot's (and Sorkin's … and my) point.

It's the sign of a good writer (or, in Elliott's opinion, a great one) to recognize that, when trying to aptly communicate your thoughts, someone else has already written what you're thinking (albeit, in my case, in another context) … far, far better than you could ever do. And I would fail to do justice to anyone reading my dribble NOT to use such rhetoric.

This is a philosophical issue, I think. Truly, is there ANYTHING we've access to — in literature, technology, or otherwise — that hasn't already been thought of, described, or built by someone else? Everything we've got, our entire culture is based on the prior accomplishments of others.

So, in this case, I forgot to cite. Again, it's just a blog — get a grip. Regardless, thanks for writing, and I hope you keep reading — I need someone to keep me on my toes.

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(Rote, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia)

Okay, I put up on my Flickr Account the first batch of new picture from Rote, for those of you that still give a crap (which pretty much comes down to Manny and the other random stragglers that accuse me of plagiarism … on the Internet! — don't worry I'll get to that …).

I'm leaving Bali in the next couple hours back through Jakarta, and then back to Bangkok later tonight. Home sweet home … such as it is.

I'll be there a couple of weeks before leaving for the Philippines … at this point, probably for the remainder of the summer. We'll see how it goes, right?

Finally, for everyone that wrote to me (both publicly and privately) during the last few weeks while I was away, I plan on doing a 'group response post' — addressing each of the comments, suggestions, compliments, and, in one case, an interesting 'call out' on some television script writing I 'borrowed' from (ahem) about 200 months back.

To all of you (including you, Pat), thanks for taking notice, and hopefully I'll give y'all something else good to get pissed off about soon enough. Until then, just chill out and take a look at the photos from Rote (which I ALSO stole … hahahaha!).

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Well, despite appearances (and some good shots from Mother Nature), I'm still alive — again.

And despite getting skunked for most of the 3 weeks I was in Rote, I still got some decent surf there (there were a FEW days the surf bumped up to 1-2 overhead). It was a bit more crowded this year than last, and I fear it is the beginning of the end for the place. But I'll write more about that later.

I'm now back in Bali (God help me). I chose to stop here for 1-2 days en route back to Bangkok — I need to stock up on surf supplies, including a new board (or 2, if things go well). As has been well documented here, I had problems moving down to the 6′8″ Tuf-Lite epoxy board I bought before I left the States for good (not only is it kinda short and built wrong for my style of surfing, the epoxy gives it too much flotation, and loss of control, in bigger waves).

So instead, I just bought something almost exactly like this beautiful Gerry Lopez retro, Pipeline, single-fin classic:

Holy shit, I think I'm in love.

It's a 7′0′ single-fin, double glassed, single concave, big wave classic. Fucking "A" man!!!

I can't wait to get to the Philippines in a few weeks to try it out for real. It's gonna take some more effort to guide it on my part, but I think I'm ready for it. It's more suited for my bigger wave, wide sweeping turning style, than is the smaller, lighter board I now have. Truly, I'm getting tired of having to stay on that big ol' mini-malibu of mine whenever I go out just cuz I either can't catch the smaller stuff or get tossed around too much on the smaller board.

I'm hoping that, after the past couple years, my skill level has improved enough so that I can ride well enough, and truly enjoy, this amazing new board. I'm excited.

Okay, I'm gonna go post some new pics from Rote to my Flickr account … and, oh yeah, I should probably give my folks a call to let them know I'm still alive. I'll write more in the next couple days.

Keep an eye or two open for the updates.

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(A picture taken of the break last year in front of the Karang Nyimbor Hotel — where I'm staying in Southern Sumatra)

I'm torn between my desire to detail for those interested in visiting the Krui area of Sumatra (where I currently am), and my desire to just talk about my own shit (like usual). So I'll compromise and do a little bit of both.

There are several breaks in the Krui area — comprised of an exposed beach and reef that has good, reliable surf all throughout the dry season of March through October. One of the best features of the area is that it's one of the only places in Indonesia that has some decent right-handed breaks (Indonesia is known as 'land of the lefts').

As noted previously, I am staying about an hour south of Krui town, in a small fishing village called Ujung Bocur. The entire area is an absolutely idyllic tropical setting.

When it's working properly, the wave here (a.k.a. Sumatra's longest left) is a quality long point reef. It's a long, walled up wave with three connecting sections that breaks on all tides and provides some amazing rides of up to 1/2 a kilometer long.

Unfortunately, I've had only a few truly decent days of surf in the past week — it was initially a bit inconsistent due to a cyclone that was sitting off the northwestern coast of Australia (Cyclone Pancho — and no, I'm not kidding about the name).

As noted previously, there are several other minor issues with the area — all of which have been EASILY outweighed by only one (1) awesome day in the surf. The biggest issue is that, although there are some amazing surf spots all up and down the coast, most are very far apart, requiring a lot of time on the road, and you need to get to them before the afternoon wind gets up.

The second biggest problem is also probably one of the best features of the area — it's isolation and difficulty to reach. I did it the 'expensive' way — traveling direct from Singapore to Jakarta (in West Java), then sleeping in the Jakarta Airport Hotel as part of the mandatory overnight stay (US$100 — an absolute FORTUNE in Indo Rupiah), then the morning flight from Jakarta to Bandar Lampung (in southern Sumatra), and then a privately hired 'bemo' (taxi) to drive the final 5-6 hours around the volcano's to Krui.

• The total travel time to Krui from Singapore (including layovers, etc.), which is only about 250 miles away, is 2 days.
• The nearest Bank/ATM machine — 2-2.5 hours away by taxi/motorbike (3-4 hours if by public bus).
• English is hardly spoken or understood ANYWHERE in the area (except by the few ex-pat surfers living/running surf camps in the area).

Again, these inconveniences are becoming easily overlooked after only one day of getting treated like royalty by the guys over at Karang Nyimbor Hotel. The place is probably somewhat similar to how Bali was a few decades ago — no huge crowds of panting, overage Aussies, no huge shopping markets, no nothing, really.

And now the wind is dropping — the surf is picking up — the weather is gorgeous. Fucking 'ell, man. It's absolutely awesome. THIS is the shit I came out here for!! I'm going surfing for a bit, I'll see y'all in a few days (or so…).

P.S. AmTrust Direct Bank STILL sucks ass!! Fuck, I can't even get onto the AmTrust website anymore. Could someone back in the States try to get on and see if it's just cuz they're blocking overseas customers (i.e., ME) or if the entire Bank is gone. Thanks all!

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Hey folks!

It's okay to come on back now everyone, I'm fairly calm now. But Jesus H. Christ on a pogo-fucking-stick, if I haven't had a nerve-wracking past few days.

First off, as noted in my last post, no one should EVER use AmTrust Bank for ANYTHING. EVER!! (unless you don't WANT to ever see your money again, of course). Fuck, I know there's a recession going on back in the States, but that doesn't mean the bank can simply STEAL my goddamn money!!

Regardless, that's what having an extra stash in your bank account is for, right?

Umm … yeah, not so much.

That's not to say that, besides also having the typical low-level 'scamming' thing going on, the local guys over at the Family Losman next door were also great hosts (although their facilities aren't as extensive as Andy's), so don't believe anything bad you may hear about them either. They're a bit cheaper, and they've just got a less extensive hotel/losman (i.e., Andy's got A/C rooms, a TV room, etc.). It just depends on what you want to do and pay.

So I'm here at Karang Nyimbor for another couple weeks — it's still not crowded in the surf, and my stress level has been reduced exponentially regarding money, so everything's cool.

Granted, it would be nice if the surf picks up a bit … but for now, I'm just thankful for what I've got.

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So … I'm back in Singapore, en route to my next surfing destination.

I left Bangkok yesterday morning and I've stopped over in Singapore to visit with a friend, pick up some long-lost supplies, and generally get my shit in order before heading back down to Indonesia for the next month.

Among such supplies is my camera's USB cord, which I left here in November when I thought I'd be back in only a few weeks. Now, almost 5 months later, I've FINALLY been able to upload the pictures from my recent trips HERE (the Philippines), HERE (Sri Lanka), and HERE (India) (sorry, no pics from Bangkok — my camera went 'tits up' a few weeks ago).

Oh, and Manny? … TK?

Just in case both of your busy 'work schedules' keep you from browsing through all of those pics — there's a picture showing the aftermath of my Sri Lankan sea urchin encounter HERE, and another showing the result of my motorbike accident from the Philippines HERE.

Enjoy 'em, you sadistic fucks (but I mean that in a nice way).

Anyway, I've also been planning on swinging through Kuta, Bali on my way out towards 'all points water' to pick up requisite surfing supplies (wax, ding repair kit, fins, etc.). Kuta ain't my favorite place in the world, but unfortunately, it's one of the few — if not the only — place in all of Southeast Asia where surfing supplies are available (ironically, Phuket also apparently has one lone surf shop, but I wasn't going to risk a trip just to find they had nothing I need).

Apparently, however, the second coming of Christ is happening in Bali this month — because every single fucking flight from Singapore to Bali is booked for the next 10 days (except first class tickets — which we all know I don't qualify for). This has left me just a BIT flustered, considering that last summer I was able to get a cheap flight to Bali almost instantly.

Luckily, I learned that I'm not as dumb as I thunk I is. Apparently I've either got a guardian garden gnome or had the foresight to leave myself a care package here in Singapore — replete with surf wax, an epoxy ding-repair kit, and even extra fins. Nice!

So … fuck you Bali, hello Sumatra! (Krui, southern Sumatra … to be precise).

I've heard some pretty good things about the place — including the fact that it's not TOO crowded yet. Considering the number of surfers I saw in Indonesia last year, I'm not holding my breathe. But all in all, I'm pretty stoked about checking out the Sumatran mainland. If things go well, I may even head up to the Mentawai Islands and/or Nias while I'm down in the area. We'll just see how it unfolds.

Rather than wasting US$800 on an unnecessary flight to Bali, I can take a flight from here to Jakarta (and then onward through Bandar Lampung) for only US$35.00-US$45.00. This stuff just confirms my thinking that, if you just don't force it, sometimes these things just have a way of working themselves out.

I hope to pick up the plane tickets later today, and then I'll be leaving over the weekend. I'll keep writing whenever I find Internet connections, so keep in touch. Stay well and have a good month, everyone. Peace, out.

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(Kuta, Bali, Indonesia — Advertising SOME Fucking Surfer-Tourist Thing)

Transcribed/Modified: Tuesday, June 19, 2007, 2:59:40 PM

Once again, I’m backdating some of my entries because I’ve only just returned to a locale with electricity access, allowing me to recharge my laptop batteries.

After leaving Banco Banco (Desert Point), I’m currently on Gili Trawangan, one of 3 of the small “Gilli” partially self-governed islands right off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia (Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air). The afternoon call to prayer is going off in the background, and I’m enjoying for the first time in a week the pleasure of sitting in a hotel room with electricity, a a fan, indoor plumbing, and running water.

(A view looking into one of the various bars on Gili Trawangan, one in which they only serve Bintang, not Mushy shakes … thank god).

There is no surf here, but I’ve taken up with several Australian surfers traveling the area who decided to come here for several days to “wait out” the surf forecast, which shows no surf in the area for at least several days. In the meantime, I figure I'll write about the hellhole that is Kuta, Bali.
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